• SnausagesinaBlanket@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Japan’s current fiber-optic commercial internet connections use optical fiber transmission windows known as L and C multi-core fiber (MCF) bands to transport data long distances at record speeds. Meanwhile we (USA) have fiber back to copper and Cat3 for the last few hundred feet in most cities at best making the entire idea into a bottle neck.

      • Ranvier@sopuli.xyz
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        10 months ago

        No, the average internet download speed in the United State is about 171 Mbps. Though disclaimer, I’m not sure of the exact reliability of that number, different sources are reporting quite a range of speeds, though I don’t see any under 100 Mbps average and I see many reporting well above this.

        https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/fastest-slowest-internet

        There are certainly some areas, especially rural, that struggle though. And upload speed is often much worse unless you have fiber.

      • lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca
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        10 months ago

        Cat 3 isnt actually a thing, but people call house phone wiring that. Runs DSL quite well.

        • Dave.@aussie.zone
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          10 months ago

          Cat 3 is a thing and is basically unshielded twisted pair. You can abuse it quite a bit from its voice grade days to cram a few hundred megabits of VDSL over it if it’s only from your house to the curb.

    • falsem@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      There are a lot of very good reasons to switch back to copper for the last portion of a run. I highly doubt that consumer internet in Japan is terminating fiber directly into peoples’ computers. Fiber is a lot more expensive both for the line, to run it, more prone to breakage, the network cards are more expensive, etc. It’s really not needed for most purposes.

      Also no one uses cat3 for data and it can’t be run for ‘hundreds of feet’. And LC fiber IS used in the US - that’s a kind of connector not the kind of fiber.

      • Dave.@aussie.zone
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        10 months ago

        I highly doubt that consumer internet in Japan is terminating fiber directly into peoples’ computers.

        You run fiber to the home and gigabit ethernet or whatever internally in the premises. All your other complaints re: cost and etc aren’t really an issue for last mile consumer grade fiber.

        I have seen installers run a fiber drop cable across from a power pole, bring it down an outside wall , then staple it to joists under a house, cleave off the end and stick a mechanical splice on it, bang it in the power meter, all good, plug it in the fiber modem, good to go in less than 20 minutes. All this stuff uses standard components and technology that’s been available for 10+ years now.

        Also no one uses cat3 for data and it can’t be run for ‘hundreds of feet’. And LC fiber IS used in the US - that’s a kind of connector not the kind of fiber

        It’s probably the standard “last mile” half assed solution where they decide to use existing phone lines and VDSL from a box down the street instead of biting the bullet and running fiber.

      • tiredofsametab@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        Typing from my Tokyo fiber-to-the-home connection now. They ran it off the pole, installed a little thing in my house, ran the fiber to the modem they make me rent, and it works like a charm.

        • falsem@kbin.social
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          10 months ago

          Yeah, it’s not terminated in your computer though for all the reasons I said.

          • tiredofsametab@kbin.social
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            10 months ago

            I don’t think I understand unless you’re expecting me to buy some router and network cards that natively support fiber to go from the modem (which is fiber in from the pole outside).